Warriors Of A Forgotten Sun
by bluefuzzyelf
Summary: Kagome was not a normal girl, not leading a normal life. However, when Giles and Spike show up and her flat in London, God seems intent of making her even more abnormal, if possible...Of course, add in the accidental murder of a (rest of summary inside)
1. Into Every Generation

**Title:** Chosen and Shunned

**Rating:** PG-13 and R at times for violence, language and sexual implications.

**Summary: **(AU) Kagome was not a normal girl, not leading a normal life. However, when Giles and Spike show up and her flat in London, God seems intent of making her even more abnormal, if possible...Of course, add in the accidental murder of a Death Eater in King's Cross, and Kagome may never get a peaceful day again.****

**Disclaimer:** Copyright for Inuyasha goes to Rumiko Takahashi and this author does not get any profit from this story.

**Author(ess):** bluefuzzyelf

Chapter One

Into Every Generation

Higurashi Kagome whimpered as she lay in the dank alley, curling up into a ball to prevent her attackers from hurting her. She had been walking home from a club when she was jumped. It was dark, and Kagome had not sensed anything until it was too late. She cringed as she heard one of the men laugh cruelly. She whimpered again, not understanding why she was so affected. She had taken out demons much bigger before. What were the doing to her?!

Then, suddenly, a rush of adrenaline and power ran through her, lighting her veins on fireÉ. Her mind cleared.

As one on the men's fist came down towards her face, she put up one arm to block it. The man looked surprised, then angry.

In a series of movements she had put hours into learning, she dispatched the men easily and walked out into the street. In the glow of the streetlamp, she examined her hands, flexing them. She could feel raw power running through her veins. She had to find something to let it out on.

When she stumbled into her small flat the next morning, she was covered in slime and demon bits. Feeling satisfied, she took a shower and fell into a dreamless sleep, after reminding herself not to mention the incident to Inuyasha.

Seven Months Later

Kagome was lounging on the sofa in the den, watching TV and trying to convince herself that she should go work out. It wasn't working very well, so she took another stick of Pocky out of the box and munched on it. She savored it, well aware of how hard it was to get in London.

Kagome channel surfed, ending up on an old episode of Alias. She had resumed her inner fight about the exercise when the doorbell rang, deciding for her. She sighed and lurched off the couch, clicking off the TV.

The doorbell rang again.

"I'm coming!" She grumbled as she neared the door. If Hojo was back to ask her out againÉ.

Kagome opened the door. To her surprise, three strangers were standing on the doorstep, instead of the rather thickheaded senior. A middle aged man, with glasses and a tweed suit. The complete opposite to the Japanese-born London teenager. A man behind him was dressed in a heavy coat that was entirely too hot for the day.

"Hallo."

"Kagome Higurashi?"

"YeahÉyou're not selling anything, are you?"

"Er, no. We're here to tell you that you're in danger."

Kagome snorted. That was all? "I know that."

"What?"

"Of course I'm in danger. Look, just come in." She opened her door wider and let the two people in. Kagome resisted the urge to stare at the younger one. Sure, he was no Inuyasha, but this guy was definitely attractive. He had bleached blond hair, cheekbones to die for and remarkably intense blue eyes.

"Whew. I was gettin a bit hot under there," he said as he removed his jacket. "I'm right famished. Got any blood, mate?"

Kagome looked bemused. She felt the strange aura around him, something she had felt many times but never had a chance to figure out.

"I don't think so."

The older man shot the blond one a look. He responded with a "What?" look of his own.

"So, who are you guys? And what was this about danger? What new big bad am I going to have to face?" The blond looked slightly surprised, for whatever reason.

"Forgive me, I'm Rupert Giles, and this is Spike."

"Nice name."

"Thanks," Spike said.

Kagome waved her hand towards a couple of pouffy chairs. "Sit. I'll get you some tea. And I'll check for blood."

Spike and Giles were under the impression that she was kidding, but when she returned from the kitchen a few minutes later, she held a tray with three mugs and some sugar and cream. Two of the mugs were filled with tea, but the one she set in front of Spike held a dark thick liquid, crimson colored.

Spike perked up and took a sip. "Oh, that's good too. Fresh.

"Why did you-"

"Have blood in the fridge?" Giles nodded. "I get interesting company.

"Apparently," said Giles, obviously a little taken aback.

"So, you were going to tell me why I'm in danger?"

"Right," Giles paused and closed his eyes. "As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. Into every generation, a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of evil."

Giles opened his eyes.

"Sounds positively medieval. What does it have to do with me?" Kagome cleverly hid all of her feelings behind a smooth mask, resolving to think it all over later that night.

Spike snorted. "You're the new slayer.

"Oh. So I have to go around killing creatures of the night, do I?

"Well, yes and no.

"Huh?

spike rolled his eyes. "Nice going, Watcher. He means, yes you do have to go around killing vamps, but you're not going to have to move to the Hellmouth.

"Hellmouth," Kagome said the way she would have said Ôcloud'. "Well, I'm not going to ask what that is, as it seems pretty self explanatory, but I am going to ask why you do or don't need me there.

"Because we've got a slayer back home in Sunnyhell to take care of it for us," Spike said, setting his cup down.

Kagome blinked. "I thought there was only one. One into every generation, and all.

"Our friends brought her back from the dead.

Kagome raised her eyebrows. "Impressive." Spike smirked.

"Quite. We now have three slayers in existence." Giles looked as if he very much wanted to smack the blond upside the head.

"Three?

"Buffy's died twice.

Spike nodded. "You've been miss super strength for about seven months.

Kagome frowned. Yes, that made sense. She had suddenly become stronger, more agile. She had always been a suprisingly fast healer but while it once had taken about a week to heal broken ribs, now it took only a couple of days. She had attributed it to her growing powers.

"Okay, that makes sense. I've been able to do things I hadn't been able to before. But, you still haven't told me why I'm in danger."

"The vampires are growing bolder. There's a Hellmouth here, in London." Kagome nodded. "They're also growing stronger, and we can't figure why. Thank god they haven't found a way to go out in daylight."

"Hey!" said Spike indignantly. "You have any idea what it's like to be in the dark all the time?"

Kagome let out an "Oh!' of realization. The two men turned back to her. "You're a vampire!"

"Eh, yeah."

"So that's what you are! It's been bugging me for months!"

"What?" Kagome turned to Giles.

"I can feel them. Their auras. I can tell when someone isn't human. I've been feeling auras like Spike's here, but haven't been able to find out what they were, due to an overly protective friend." Kagome rolled her eyes. "I swear, he's like a guard dogÉ."

"You can feel auras?"

Kagome nodded. Giles looked very interested. "I can do a lot more than that, actually. We're not sure where they come from, but they've always been there. "

"What else can you do?"

"Well, I canÉ.well, purify a demon. With enough power, it disintegrates them completely." Spike shrank back and Kagome sent him a reassuring look. "I can also heal. I've been training for a few years now, and like to think myself pretty accomplished."

"You use them on demons?"

"Relax, Spike, I'm not going to purify you. I'm not even sure it would work on a vampire."

"Good."

Giles opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, the doorbell rang again. Kagome sighed. "The one day I kick back, people keep ringing my doorbell. If it's HojoÉ." she left the room, muttering to herself, signaling that she'd be right back.

Kagome opened her door again and brightened. "Wotcher, Inuyasha!"

"Hey Kag." He sniffed. "Who's here?"

"Come in. They'reÉ.well, I guess they're friends."

"You guess?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Honestly, if anyone had told me how possessive dog demons were _before_ handÉ."

"But you love me like this."

_You have no idea how right you are_.

"Yeah, yeah, get in here, you arrogant bastard." She pulled him inside and propelled him into the living room.

Spike and Giles stopped talking as soon as they saw a rather tall man enter the room, Kagome right behind him. He looked like a refugee from a Sex Pistols concert, with ripped trousers, a beat up black leather jacket and motorcycle boots that made loud clumping noises everytime he put a foot down. He looked to be no older than twenty two or twenty three, amber eyes and a black bandanna over his long silver hair. It was disheveled, giving the impression that he hadn't brushed it in days. He had two silver rings in one eyebrow and a stud in the middle of his lip. Another stud in his nose didn't -as it would've on many other guys- make him look even a bit feminine. He grinned at the frozen Giles and Spike with a mouthful of unbelievingly white teeth, obviously enjoying their reactions. Giles noticed that his canines were long and razor sharp.

"Hallo! What's up?"

Kagome peered over his shoulder and giggled at the two men in her living room.

"Mr. Giles, Spike, this is my friend Inuyasha." She pushed him a bit further in, causing him to lose his balance momentarily. The rattle of chains was heard and Spike noticed that he was wearing one on his neck, wrist and a few on his trousers.

Inuyasha took a seat on the couch, flopping down tiredly. He fixed Giles and Spike with a piercing look. "So, who are you then?"

Kagome sat next to Inuyasha. "That's Mr. Giles, and that's Spike. They came to tell me I'm in danger." Inuyasha snorted.

"We know that."

"S'what I told em." Kagome proceeded to explain, with Giles helping, what they had told her earlier.

"So, you're aÉ.slayer."

"Apparently."

"How's that different from what we do now?"

"I kill vampires as well. Not Spike though, he's a good vampire."

"Good vampire?"

"Yes.

"They exist?

Kagome smacked Inuyasha with the back of her hand.

You know, I would've known about the vampires if you hadn't been so stubborn about letting me feel the auras."

"The last time you did that, you went into a seizure. There's no way I'm risking that again."

Giles and Spike exchanged curious looks.

"So," said Kagome, abandoning glaring at Inuyasha, "All you want me to do is add vampires to my list of to kill?"

"We were hoping you'd host a couple of potential slayers here. Just a few, no more than five. And Buffy would join you."

"Buffy?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Buffy Summers. She was the slayer I was talking about earlier. I was her Watcher."

"Watcher?"

"Yes. I worked for the Watchers Council-"

"Bunch of old stuffed shirts," interceded Spike. Giles smiled wryly.

"Yes, well, they're all Watchers. We need to assign you one, now."

"Me?

"Yes.

"Bummer. Can Inuyasha act Watcher? He already does, anyway.

"We'll see." Giles didn't look to hopeful.

"So, Kag's gonna get some roommates?" He turned to Kagome. "Don't let Miroku in." Kagome shuddered.

"Course not, I don't want to scare them off."

Spike snorted into his mug.

Spike and Giles left with the promise to come back in a week with the potentials and Buffy.

Once they were gone, Inuyasha turned to Kagome. "I did actually have a purpose in coming here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Miroku got us a tip about a nest of demons in Soho."

"Wonderful. And to think this was my day off"

"Yeah, slayers don't get days off, from what I've heard. Let's go."

"Lemme change."

Inuyasha looked down at her. "What's wrong with what you've got on now?"

Kagome looked deadpan at him. "I'm in a bright purple Clash t-shirt, jeans that might rip if I do anything more strenuous that stand up and a gazillion chains. Oh, yes, this is so stealthy and practical."

"Ha ha. Very funny."

"I thought so. Now, sit down and wait while I change."

A few minutes later, Kagome came out wearing a black boyfriend muscle tank, black stretchy pants and black boots.

"Isn't it a little hot for all the black?"

"It's dusk. It'll be cool enough in around fifteen minutes."

"Whatever you say. Let's go."

Kagome slipped on two arm guards that had knives hidden in them and belted a thin sword at her waist. "Hold on, I need to do the illusion." She pointed at her sword, muttered something under her breath, and the sword took on the appearance of a cell phone.

"Ready."

"Right then. Let's _go_." Inuyasha strode out of the flat, Kagome locking the door behind them.

"Let's kick some demon ass!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Do you think you could be a little more clichŽ?

"Probably. Shut up and move.

They took the underground, keeping as quiet as possible. They did attract a few odd looks, but nothing to abnormal. Inuyasha just stared down anyone who was too interested.

They got off at Soho, and Inuyasha led her to a nearby club. Kagome could feel the auras coming from it and frowned.

"If they're in thereÉ.they've either got good illusions, or they're wreaking havoc."

Inuyasha shrugged. "We're just gonna check it out, see if anything needs killing."

Inuyasha walked right in, giving a fake ID to the bouncer. Kagome followed suit. They moved to the bar and sat down. Inuyasha scoped out the area, looking perfectly normal. Kagome sent her power out in a wave and gave the barest of nods towards a blue haired youth.

"I'm feeling something strong from him. And there's a weaker demon off to the left, the one with greasy black hair. Wearing the Lord of the Rings t-shirt." Her voice was low.

Inuyasha slid a drink over to her. "Dangerous?"

"Maybe."

Suddenly a jolt of power had Kagome sloshing half of her drink on the floor. Inuyasha looked at her, alarmed. "What is it?"

"DemonsÉ.outside, I think. Strong"

Inuyasha got up, looking calm, but Kagome could see the tenseness in his shoulders and neck.

"Let's go." He threw down some money for the drinks and they left. Outside, Kagome felt it again.

"To the left."

They came upon an alley, and three centipede demons. The demons reared up and grinned horribly as the two came close.

"AhÉ.dinnerÉ.Look, sister, look what we've got."

"Oh, they look right tasty, they doÉ."

"Let's just kill them. I'm hungryÉ."

They never got the chance. Inuyasha, with a quick swipe of his claws, dispatched one, Kagome hit another with a blast of power, and the third one met her sword. Annoyingly, the last centipede would not die, and it took the combined force of Kagome's sword, her magic, and Inuyasha's claws to finish her off.

Kagome wiped her sword off with a kerchief from her jacket. "Nasty creatures."

Inuyasha snorted in amusement. "C'mon, it's getting late."

Kagome and Inuyasha got as far as the underground station when Kagome felt a weird twinge. It was that aura, the one that belonged to vampires. Kagome was suddenly quite aware that it was just she and Inuyasha, taking a short cut. The station was not far away, within running distance, but to a killerÉ.it was far enough.

Kagome stiffened, and Inuyasha looked at her, alarmed for the second time that night. "What now?"

"Vampires."

"Lovely. You know, we should start carrying around stakes," Inuyasha remarked conversationally.

"Or crossbows." Kagome whipped out her sword and spun, catching the demon in the heart. He disintegrated into dust. Unfortunately, there were more.

"Inuyasha, go for the heart!"

"I'm not an idiot! I watched as many horror movies- ouch!- as you!"

Kagome lopped off the head of a female coming at her, and Inuyasha stuck his hand through another's chest.

The last one, a young man, ran.

"Oh no you don't!" Kagome shouted, shooting a dagger from her arm band, which caught him in his heart. He screamed and then was a little pile of dust on the ground.

Inuyasha walked over to Kagome, who was breathing a little heavily.

"Nice shot. You alright there?"

"Yeah. Just a little winded."

Kagome retrieved her dagger, placed it back inside her band and they left on the underground.

Inuyasha dropped her at her apartment, making sure she was alright before leaving to his flat. Kagome had to assure him that she would be fine three times, _and_ remind him that he lived very close by before he left.

Kagome went into her bedroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She had luckily avoided most of the demon blood, but her clothes would need a definite wash. They were covered in dust. It was amazing that more people didn't notice on the underground. Granted, there weren't many people on it, but still.

She threw the clothes in the hamper and pulled on her pajamas, falling into bed. It seemed she had gotten her exercise after all.

One week passed in no time, what with near nightly patrols. The demons were getting bolder, and Kagome kept running into vampires. Sometimes she swore they sought her out. She'd never met one _before_

Inuyasha spent a couple of late nights at her house, and she couldn't say she didn't like waking up to find him on her sofa. Rather a pleasant feeling, really. She didn't dwell on these thoughts, pushing them down with a faint blush.

She was so used to Inuyasha's daily visits, when she heard her doorbell ring, she immediately opened the door with a scowl and a "What now?" To shock and embarrassment, however, the person (or rather, _people_) was not what she was expecting.

No fewer than five girls stood outside her door, flanked by Spike and Giles. She should've known it was Spike, but she hadn't read the auras before she opened the door. Upon later reflection, she realized that wasn't a very smart thing to do.

"Er, hallo. These the potentials?"

A blond girl in the front nodded. She looked to be about five years older than Kagome. "Hi. I'm Buffy Summers." Kagome was surprised. She'd expected someone larger. Buffy was not the image she had in mind, dressed in a flowery skirt and a pastel tank top.

"Nice to meet you. Come on in. I'll fix you some tea. Or something."

The girls filed past, Giles and Spike following. They made themselves comfortable while Kagome brought out a plate of biscuits and mugs. She placed several different kinds of tea on the table and put a large pot on to boil.

Kagome sat down. Everyone stared at each other for a moment, then Kagome spoke. "Right, well I reckon we'd better do introductions then. I'm Kagome."

"You've already met me, I'm Buffy. This is Avery Fulk," Buffy pointed at a strong looking brunette with an open face, "Jaime Ainsworth," a girl with vibrant red hair nodded slightly, "Beatrix-"

"_Don't_ call me that. " Beatrix was tall, with close cropped green hair. Her face was heart shaped and lovely, even twisted in annoyance as it currently was.

"Beatrix Maxine Clows, who likes to be called Max."

"So would you, if your mum had named you _Beatrix Maxine_."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "And Sango Yamamoto." Her eyes were slanted, like Kagome's, and almond colored.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "_Konnich'wa_." Sango smiled.

"_Konnich'wa_." The girl was also tall, and independent looking. She held her long chestnut hair out of her face in a braid, and she wore a pair of loose trousers and a white tank top.

The tea kettle demanded Kagome's attention. "Be right back." True to her word, a moment later she returned with the kettle and poured hot water into everyone's cups. Well, except for Spike, to whom she had already provided blood.

"Pleased to meet you all." Kagome lifted her cup to her mouth and took a sip of her tea. "I have a couple things you should be aware of now, so we can avoid nasty scenes later.

"I work with demons."

Avery raised her eyebrows, Jaime blinked and Buffy looked a bit startled.

"If any of you have a problem with that, you can leave." No one moved. "Good. You'll be meeting my friend Inuyasha pretty soon, and as long as you don't provoke him, he's pretty harmless.

"Another thing, I can do a form of-of magic, I suppose. And no, I'm not delusional. I can sense auras, purify demons, etc, etc. If you feel a strange tingling feeling in your stomach, don't worry, it's probably just me."

The door burst open and Inuyasha ran into the room. He was brought up short by the eight pairs of eyes blinking at him.

"Um, hello."

"Good Lord, he looks like Sid Vicious exploded all over him," Avery commented good naturedly. Max sniggered.

"Inuyasha? What's up?"

Kagome's voice seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he had been in. "Miro's hurt."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Shippou's bringing him right now. Kagome, it's bad. Some slimy thing clawed him a good one right down his thigh. It's deep, and whatever poison was in that thing, it's preventing the blood from clotting. He can't stop bleeding."

"Shit." Kagome jumped up, completely forgetting about her guests and grabbing medical supplies from her bathroom. She scooted Avery and Jaime off the couch and removed the pillows from it.

Thumping noises were heard from the hallway. Inuyasha hurried to the door and helped a boy with reddish hair carry a moaning man into her living room. He had his dark neck length hair pulled into a small ponytail at the back of his neck, and the one time he opened his eyes, the girls could see that they were violet.

"Oh, bloody hell!" Inuyasha and Shippou placed Miroku gently on the couch. His face was dangerously pale. Kagome reached into her pocket and brought out a switchblade. She flipped it open and cut the fabric of his jeans away from his thigh.

"How did this happen?" Kagome asked as she looked at the wound. "Shippou, could you grab me the water that was left in the tea pot? There's a big bowl in the cupboard over the sink, if you could bring that too." Shippou brought them and Kagome emptied the water into the bowl. She soaked a clean rag in the hot liquid and wiped off the blood on Miroku's thigh with it. He hissed. Avery winced.

"We were fighting something. We've never come across anything like it before, and it got him. I'm not sure how it slipped past our defenses," said Shippou, "But it did, and cut him good. He's lost a lot of blood. Kagome, is he going to make it?"

"He will." Kagome placed her hands on Miroku, one on his hip just above the injury, and the other on the knee, just below it. She concentrated, her brows furrowing. Giles made to speak, but Inuyasha silenced him with a look.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the wound stopped bleeding. Then, starting at the very edges, the claws marks started to disappear. It went sluggishly, as the cuts were deep. The four potentials, Buffy, Giles, Spike, Shippou and Inuyasha watched intently. The demons took involuntary steps back as her power came ominously close to them. When she was healing, Kagome was liable to strike out at anything that didn't feel human.

The humans in the room experienced a tingly feeling in their stomachs, as warned by Kagome. It was not altogether unpleasant, but very odd.

Kagome fell back, Inuyasha rushing forward to catch her. The sensation of power dissipated. Miroku groaned and sat up.

"You're looking a bit pale, mate."

"Thanks for the urgent bulletin from the drawer marked obvious, Yash. Massive blood loss does usually result in pallor, you know."

Inuyasha chuckled. "Glad to know you're okay. Now scoot over, your savior passed out." Shippou helped Miroku sit up, and Inuyasha laid Kagome gently next to him.

Giles was standing up, looking thoroughly interested, Spike was inspecting his mug for more blood and the five girls were watching, concerned.

"Is she going to be okay?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. She'll be fine. It was just a lot of power to heal something like that. Who are you lot, anyway? The potential slayers?"

The girls nodded. "I'm Inuyasha, this is Shippou," the kid looked to be about fifteen, with intense green eyes, "and the groaning idiot over here is Miroku."

Miroku scowled. "I am not an idiot."

"Yes you are. You're a bloody idiot, getting yourself clawed like that."

"Yes, I just stepped right in front of those claws, I did. Fancied a bit of pain."

Jaime giggled. Miroku looked at her and his countenance brightened. "Now who might this lovely young woman be?" Jaime giggled again.

"Jaime. Jaime Ainsworth."

"Ah, a beautiful name for a beautiful lady." Jaime blushed a bit.

"Don't you get started on these five. Don't mind him, he's a prat. Hit him if he does anything."

Miroku looked wounded. "I would never-"

"Save it for someone who didn't room with you for two years."

Shippou, who had been oddly quiet, suddenly grunted a bit. Inuyasha frowned. "Oi, runt, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Shippou winced, a clawed hand going to his arm briefly.

"That's not nothing. Let me see that arm."

"No, really, I'm fine."

Inuyasha ripped his sleeve up. "Bloody hell, Shippou, that's not fine!" Shippou had wrapped a makeshift bandage around his arm, which had a large gash in it. Blood was slowly leaking through, staining the blue fabric a dark purplish color.

Inuyasha quickly grabbed some bandages and fixed up Shippou's arm.

"Well, you two aren't patrolling anytime soon."

"Inuyasha!" Two plaintive voices spoke in unison.

"No."

"Uh, excuse me." Max spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"Are you all, er, demons?"

Inuyasha blinked. "Well, me and Shippou are. Miro's not."

"As you never fail to remind meÉ." Miroku sounded distinctly grumpy.

Kagome stirred.

"Welcome back to the land of the conscious, princess.

Kagome scowled and sat up. "I'm not a princess.

Inuyasha grinned.

At the demonstration of her powers, Giles felt a bit better about leaving the potential slayers in Kagome's care. He stood up. "We'd better be leaving. It was nice to meet you, Inuyasha, Shippou, Miroku. Come, Spike."

"I am not a dog."

Giles sighed. "Please, let's just go." Spike rolled his eyes and got up.

"Thanks for the blood, pet." He said to Kagome. She grinned.

"Eh, no problem."

Giles and Spike left, Inuyasha escorted Shippou and Miroku home, and Kagome was left with a house full of girls. It was very awkward at first, getting to know each other, but what with Buffy and Kagome's combined witty remarks and Max's innate ability to make anyone laugh, they were soon behaving like old friends.

Kagome invited them to get groceries with her, seeing as how she had no idea what any of them liked. They took the underground to the supermarket, piling food items into the basket. As they passed Housewares, Kagome stopped.

"Wait. I need more towels for you guys. Each of you grab two towels."

Jaime placed two green towels in, Max put in purple, Avery got red, Buffy got white and Sango had coral. Kagome laughed. "Just like your name."

Sango smiled. "Yeah, well, it's a nice color, ne?"

When they left, Kagome had a fairly large dent in her account, but wasn't too worried. She worked part time at a movie theater in Soho, and Inuyasha could help her out in a pinch.

The girls had all brought their own sleeping bags, and spread them out. To celebrate their first night in their new home, however temporarily, they made popcorn and watched movies, with healthy bouts of gossip in between. Kagome was sufficiently embarrassed and teased about Inuyasha, and there was much sighing over Miroku.

When sleep finally overtook them, it was in the wee hours of the morning. Kagome closed her eyes, her last conscious thought being that she was glad to finally have some female company.

A/N: There you are. A nice, long, 13 page chapter to sink your teeth into.

I've got some of the 2nd chap done, but.Éthere's some editing that needs to be done.

I couldn't decide at first If I wanted this to be an AU or not. You can tell my decision, butÉ.well. I might end up doing another Inuyasha/Buff X-over. Someday.


	2. Funny Bolts Of Light

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Title: Chosen and Shunned

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Rating: PG-13 and R at times for violence, language and sexual implications.

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Summary: (AU) Kagome was not a normal girl, not leading a normal life. However, when Giles and Spike show up and her flat in London, God seems intent of making her even more abnormal, if possible...Of course, add in the accidental murder of a Death Eater in King's Cross, and Kagome may never get a peaceful day again.

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Disclaimer: Copyright for Inuyasha goes to Rumiko Takahashi and this author does not get any profit from this story.

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Author(ess): bluefuzzyelf

Chapter Two

"No, no, no, like this!" Kagome kicked out. Avery repeated her move. "Yeah! You feel that? That's the way it's supposed to be."

Buffy walked over to Jaime. "Your right hook is a bit high. Yeah, that's it."

They were in Inuyasha's basement. Well, the apartment basement really, but he rented it out as well. He had set it up like a gym.

"Max, a little higher. Knee, kidney, head. No, bit more. Yes!" Kagome walked over to Sango and watched her. She nodded and moved on.

The girls were all very good. Jaime had a bit of trouble with punches and jabs, resorting to her legs more often. Avery was just the opposite, fancying her fists. Max used a mix of moves Kagome had never seen before, very effective. Sango had no problem using everything and anything on her body. She looked as if she'd been in martial arts training since she was small/

"Where did you all learn to fight?"

Jaime looked up. "My brother."

"My father," said Sango softly.

Avery bit her lip. "No one. I just went at the bag every night." Kagome nodded. That explained her lack of finesse. She was strong, and hit in the right places, but her moves weren't very graceful. Not that it mattered in a real fight.

Max rolled her neck. "I lived in a tough neighborhood."

"You're all very good."

"But you need work." Kagome whipped around. Inuyasha leaned against the doorframe, his bandanna off. The girls stared at his ears. Max looked like she wanted to pet them. They sat on the top of his head, little dog ears. Fluffy and white. They were pierced all the way up, a little hoop at the top of the left one. "Jaime, your defense needs work. Avery, your attacks are good, but messy. Max, is it? You're gonna need to work on defense as well. The hits these guys land are gonna hurt much more that the stuff you're used to in your old neighborhood.

"Sango, you're really good. Let me spar you." Kagome's head flew up.

"Inuyasha." He gave her a reassuring look.

"Don't worry. What do you want to use?" He directed the last at Sango and waved his hand towards the wall of weapons to the right. Sango raised her eyebrow at using real weapons, but picked up a thin sword, strong and sharp, but light. Inuyasha hefted his regular sparring sword, a broad heavy one. "Kagome? Could you?"

Kagome nodded, realization dawning on her face. Inuyasha held his blade towards her and she bent over the edge, placing her hands lightly on it. She let a bit of power seep out, creating a defensive barrier on it. "There." Inuyasha drew it across his own hand, eliciting gasps from the onlookers. No blood was drawn. "Good. Can you do Sango's?" Kagome nodded and repeated to process.

"Now, these won't cut, but they'll still hurt. I want you to come after me like you want to kill me Sango. "

Sango nodded, a bit apprehensive.

They clashed. Kagome watched, worried, biting her lip. Inuyasha wouldn't use his full strength, would he? She hoped he would be careful.

Buffy watched, a bit angry. He was a demon! Sango wasn't going to win the spar! But then, she realized, that was the point. She had to fight the way she would if it was a real fight. If she couldn't win the sparshe wasn't ready for the really big bads.

The fight was short, only about ten minutes before Inuyasha brought Sango down with a well placed kick and brought his sword to her neck. He flicked the sword away from her throat and helped her up.

"That was good. Just.you thought too much. That's the way you're trained, but it won't do you any good out there. They will use anything to get to you; they fight dirty. So, fight dirty back." He spoke to all of them. "Kagome? I noticed you weren't getting much of a workout. Wanna dance?"

Buffy started. He reminded her of Spike when he had said the same to her. Then she frowned. If Inuyasha took out Sango that easily, then what would he do to Kagome? She wasn't exactly the strongest looking person in the world.

"Wait! Inuyasha, I don't think that's a good idea."

Inuyasha snorted. "She can take it."

"But-"

"It's okay, B." Kagome pulled her hair into a quick braid, flipping it over her shoulder. "I'm gonna enjoy this."

Inuyasha grinned.

The two fighters circled each other, neither holding a weapon. They danced around each other. Kagome jumped in with a flying kick aimed at his head. Inuyasha blocked and ducked. The two collided again, moves melting into each other, both moving so fast it was hard to distinguish separate moves.

Kagome feigned to the left, narrowly missing a kick aimed for her head that would have left her dazed. Inuyasha pulled off a sweeper, bringing his foot around to the back of her knees, catching Kagome off guard. She went down, but before he could place a foot on her windpipe, she kicked out with her foot, bringing him down with her. The fighters panted, staring each other down. They jumped away at the same time, crouching. Kagome knew his moves, his weaknesses. Right before he kicked out, he always left his right side open. Kagome ducked the kick and punched at his kidney. He let out an oomph, but brought his leg around and kneed her in the back of the head. Both fighters fell.

"Okay," Kagome panted, "I think that's enough."

"Uh huh," agreed Inuyasha, gulping in great breaths of air.

"I will never understand how you fight with your hair down." Kagome rolled over, flicking stray hairs away from her face.

Inuyasha grinned, his fangs glinting in the low light. "Practice."

Kagome rolled to her feet and took in the stunned looks on her companion's faces. "What?"

Buffy blinked. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Sixteen."

"Inuyasha! It's only a month away, can't I get away with saying seventeen?!"

"No."

"Prat."

"Keh."

"You're only sixteen?" Kagome turned back to Buffy at her incredulous tone.

"Er, yeah."

"Well, that's good, so am I!" Jaime said happily. Avery shook her head exasperatedly and ruffled Jaime's hair.

"I thought you were twenty or something!" said Max.

"Well, I've always been told I look older than I am."

Buffy was troubled. When Kagome was fighting, there was a look in her eyes Buffy knew all too well. A sixteen year old should **not** have that look.

The rest of that morning's workout went well. Inuyasha left to check on Shippou and Miroku, and Kagome helped pack up.

"So, how do you guys know each other?" Sango asked as they went back to Kagome's flat.

"Well, I met Inuyasha a couple of years ago. I was only fourteen, but I had been attacked by a couple of demons. He saved my life. " Kagome's expression was fond, a small smile appearing. "I took an immediate liking to him. We found out together about my powers after I almost fried him when he accidentally walked in on me in the shower. He started training me."

"Why did he train you?"

"I asked him to. All these demons were suddenly seeking me out, and it was because of my powers. They must've awakened when I was attacked. Plus, I think he wasn't too keen on getting purified by accident.

"We got really close. He lived with me for a while, until I could defend myself. He introduced me to Shippou and Miroku, who work with him.

"Miroku finds information, where demons have been attacking, where nests are. Inuyasha and I patrol together, usually every night, but these last two nights he's been alone. I think he misses my company."

"Shippou's young though, isn't he? How'd he get into this?"

"See, what we're doing is looking for a demon named Naraku. He killed Shippou's parents fifty years ago, and also took someone from Inuyasha's life. He's never really told me whoAnyway, Naraku also killed Miroku's grandfather and father with a curse. I'm just in it because this guy is a bastard."

"Fifty years!?!"

Kagome laughed. "Avery, demons don't age the way we do. Shippou, though still a kit in demon years, is around eighty. Anyway, Naraku disappeared sixteen years ago, right round when I was born. We're not sure what happened, where he is, but we keep looking."

"Eighty _years_?!?"

"_Yes,_ Avery, eighty years."

"How old's Inuyasha, then?" Jaime asked, looking particularly interested.

"Well, I think he said he was born around 1696, but I'm not sure."

Avery, Jaime, Sango and Max's mouths dropped open. Buffy looked mildly shocked.

That night was their first patrol together. Inuyasha had ordered Miroku and Shippou to stay behind, to their dismay. He had told them, irritably, to "play cards or something" and keep out of trouble.

He knocked on Kagome's door.

"Sango, could you get that?"

"Sure!" Sango walked to the door and let Inuyasha in. He looked around.

"You guys ready yet?"

"Almost." He jumped, startled. Kagome had appeared behind him.

"Don't _do_ that." He complained, one hand over his heart.

"Sorry." Kagome replied absently, flipping her hair into a ponytail. Max bounced up to them, dressed in stretchy jeans and a red hooded sweatshirt. Between that and her vivid green hair, she looked rather like a Christmas decoration. "Wotcher, Inuyasha!"

"Hey Max." Avery was the next to walk up, in brown pants and a black t shirt. Then Jaime, in all black, like Kagome and Sango. Buffy walked out of the bathroom in red leather pants and a black long sleeved shirt. She carried a crossbow and a stake in her back pocket. Sango had two wakizashis, Max had a few stakes, Avery had Kagome's arm guards on and Jaime brandished a couple of daggers.

"Let's go." Buffy said, and they filed out into the night.

"Now," said Kagome quietly, "You guys have fought demons before, but the first one we come on, let me and Yash handle it, so you can watch."

The girls murmured their assent. A few more moments of silence, and Kagome sighed. She sent out a tendril of power, and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. Two seconds later, a rat youkai attacked Inuyasha. Kagome delivered a quick hit to the head, and Inuyasha sank his claws into the rat's stomach.

There was a chorus of "Ewww"'s from the girls behind them. Kagome giggled.

"There, you see? Most of the demons we fight look kinda like that. Large animals. _Very_ large animals."

The slayers were congratulating Kagome and Inuyasha, inspecting the carcass and chatting animatedly with each other.

It happened so fast, no one could have seen it coming. It struck Sango first, raking it's claws down her back. She screamed, and was the first to fall. Another attack came from the shadows, slashing Jaime's leg. Avery threw a knife and they heard a howl of pain. Razor claws hit Avery next, raking down her arms, rendering her attacks useless.

Buffy stabbed into the dark and felt her stake hit flesh. Another scream of agony. Max kicked out where Buffy had hit it. A sweep from the monster's leg knocked them back.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. _I can't feel it. It has no aura._ She exchanged a glance with Inuyasha, and they split up, each taking to the shadows. Inuyasha felt the tingle of Kagome's magic descend on him. He moved within the dark, ears perked for any sound.

He heard a slithering sound and slashed. Blood spattered onto the ground. Kagome struck out with her sword, sliding it across bone. Something large and fuzzy smacked her in her ribs and into a wall.

"Kagome!" Her magic slid off him, and his eyes glowed with an unearthly light. He swung out with his claws, blades of energy slicing through the monster. "Fucking bastard!"

He continued to slash at it, driving it into the light. When it finally stepped into the alley and away from the shadows, Inuyasha's jaw almost dropped.

It was a huge spider, black and furry. It's eight eyes blinked down at the half demon. Little clicking noises were heard from the vicinity of it's mouth, where it's pincers were clacking together.

It lunged at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha, able to see his adversary, struck out and cut off a leg. The spider stumbled, and Inuyasha lopped off another.

He did not stop until the beast was dead on the ground, limbs scattered everywhere and it's eyes gouged out.

Kagome came to him, one arm over her stomach.

"Kagome!" He rushed to her. "Are you alright? Anything broken?"

"If it is, it'll just heal in a couple of days. Oh, don't look at me like that. We have to take care of the others."

The injuries were not fatal, by any means. Jaime was limping around, Sango refused to stay down, Max had some bruised ribs, and Avery was lamenting the fact that she couldn't pick anything up. Buffy was fine, as was Kagome. Inuyasha sustained many little scratches, but they were all superficial. That didn't stop Kagome from hovering around him like a mother hen, however.

Kagome wondered what the monster had been. It was too large for a spider demon, and it had no human traits. Inuyasha told her somewhat irritably to just be glad it was dead.

Miroku walked into the den room in his flat, carrying a pot of tea. Shippou followed with mugs. Kagome and Inuyasha had decided to take the girls to their flat, as Kagome's didn't have enough supplies for a bunch of injured girls.

He doled out tea, amiably pushing Sango back into her chair. She looked like she wanted to get back up and smack him, but he shoved a mug into her hands, and she had to hold still for fear of spilling scalding tea all over herself.

Jaime took her cup, batting her eyelashes at the handsome demon slayer. He grinned indulgently. Kagome went by him into the kitchen, smacking him as she did so. He winced.

"Whaat?"

"I saw that."

"What?"

"That look."

"_What_ look?"

Kagome looked at him, her eyes narrowed. Jaime giggled. Miroku sighed and shook his head, moving away and handing Inuyasha a mug.

The phone rang. Miroku groaned. "Ugh. Shippou, can you get that?"

"Yeah." Shippou walked over to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" There was a pause as Shippou's eyes got wide. "Turn on the TV!" he said to Inuyasha. Inuyasha picked up the remote and flicked it on.

"Channel?"

"Five." Shippou had hung up the phone and sat down next to Inuyasha as the TV started blaring.

"Oh, bloody hell," Inuyasha said, his face pale. Kagome frowned and sat next to him.

The images on the TV were horrific. Death, blood, screams. A giant spider, like the one that had attacked them not so long ago. It crawled menacingly through the streets, snatching up humans and eating them, clicking it's pincers, stepping on cars and anything else in it's way.

"Jesus Christ, we need to get over there! Where is it?"

"Nearing King's Cross station."

"Shit. Let's go." Inuyasha got up and opened a chest behind the sofa, arming himself with knives, guns and even a very large claymore. Kagome followed him, hopping over the couch and strapping a significant amount of sharp objects to her belt. Inuyasha strung a belt of ammo over his chest as Kagome fit two guns in holsters on her thighs.

Miroku picked up a crossbow, but Inuyasha snatched it away. "You're not going."

"What? Yash, I need to! You can't do this by yourself!"

"Yes I can. You have to stay here with Shippou and the girls." Buffy stood up.

"I'm coming."

Inuyasha gave her a withering glance. "No, you aren't."

"I'm the slayer. This is my job. I'm coming." Her tone was final, and Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You die, not my problem."

Kagome smacked him. "Let's go! There are people out there, getting killed! Miroku, can you work on PR? Feed something to the media. "Shippou, I want you to track this thing down. Tell us where it came from, and if it's going anywhere specific.

"Jaime, Avery, Max and Sango, I need you to help too. Go volunteer with the wounded. You all have basic medical skills, and they're going to need all the help they can get.

"Now, let's go kill this son of a bitch."

Inuyasha nodded and strode to the door, Kagome and Buffy right behind him.

They found the giant spider right outside King's Cross. Buffy got in the first shot, firing her crossbow at it, cursing when it bounced right off it's hide.

"Go for the belly and the eyes!" Kagome nodded curtly and fused some of her power into one of her knives, throwing it straight at the underside of the beast. It hit, and the creature screamed shrilly.

The pain made it go wild, stomping on everything in sight.

No one could tell, afterward, how it got into the train station, but by then it didn't really matter.

They followed it. People were screaming and running all around them, sometimes directly at the spider. Inuyasha had to catch some and throw them back the other way. He swung the claymore, hitting the creature's leg. Unlike the last spider, this one was obviously more resilient. Inuyasha damaged the leg, but didn't but it off. He refrained from shooting bolts of energy at it, considering there were still people around.

Buffy had been continuously shooting at the creature, and there were now a significant number of arrows lodged in it's belly. The spider turned on her, pincers clicking. He bent and bit Buffy on the arm, eliciting a loud scream from the slayer.

Kagome narrowed her eyes and grabbed Buffy's discarded crossbow, aiming it and firing an arrow full of her power at the beast. The arrow had so much power in it that it glowed a ghostly blue. The creature turned it's attention to Kagome.

Inuyasha threw caution to the wind and send blades of energy at the thing's legs, effectively cutting them off. The body fell to the ground, and Kagome took an arrow, stabbing it into all eight of the spider's eyes, covering herself and Inuyasha with a layer of dark blood and goo.

The giant spider screamed one last time and died.

"Oh, _gross_." Kagome grimaced and tried to wipe some of the blood of her. "That's _disgusting_."

Inuyasha chuckled. He made a very funny picture, bits of white hair showing through the dark gore, his gold eyes glinting.

Suddenly, a very loud voice shouted something that sounded like "Stupefy!" and a red bolt of light caught the hanyou in the back. Kagome screamed.

Inuyasha fell, his eyes still open. Behind him stood a man in black robes and a hood. His face was masked and he pointed a stick of wood at Kagome.

Kagome immediately acknowledged the new threat and put up a barrier. Just in time, too, because the hooded man shouted again, and a green bolt of light headed towards her. There was an odd rushing noise in her ears that stopped when the light hit her shield. Kagome fired her crossbow just as another voice from behind her, considerably younger, yelled. _Another_ bolt of light whizzed past her and it and the arrow hit simultaneously. He fell.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. She spun about and grabbed the newcomer by the throat. She was slightly surprised to find that is was a boy around her age, but she did not release her hold.

"Fix him," she hissed dangerously.

The boy gagged. A hand came to rest on Kagome shoulder, and she looked up to find no less than four people grouped around her. The man with his hand on her shoulder was old, his long white beard and hair swaying gently in the wind that was coming in through the hole the monster had made in the wall. He wore a pair of half moon spectacles, and his eyes were an impossible shade of blue.

A girl her age, maybe younger, was having some trouble holding back a tall redhead, who looked like he would charge at her given the chance.

"Please put Harry down, my dear."

Kagome curled her lip. "I am not your dear," she said, enunciating her words. "I want you to fix him, or you will find yourself out of a companion."

The old man sighed and nodded. He pointed a stick of his own at Inuyasha and said, "Ennervate!".

Inuyasha groaned and sat up. "What the hell-?"

Kagome let the boy go, shoving him away and running to Inuyasha. "Jesus, you scared the bloody hell out of me."

"_I_ scared you? What about me? All of a sudden, I black out, and I wake up to find you hovering nearby, trying to choke a bloke to death."

Kagome shot a glare at the grouped people. "What the hell is going on? What are those little sticks? Who was that man? What did he do to Inuyasha? _And why the hell do you guys have weird auras?_"

"Please, one question at a time," said the old man, one hand raised in placation. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and we have much to talk about."

A/N: Heheh. Don't worry, I'm working on the next chapter already. I'm on a roll. I just thought this a good place to stop.


	3. Illumination

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Title: Chosen and Shunned

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Rating: PG-13 and R at times for violence, language and sexual implications.

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Summary: (AU) Kagome was not a normal girl, not leading a normal life. However, when Giles and Spike show up in her flat in London, God seems intent of making her even more abnormal, if possible.Of course, add in the accidental murder of a Death Eater in King's Cross, and Kagome may never get a peaceful day again.

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Disclaimer: Copyright for Inuyasha goes to Rumiko Takahashi and this author does not get any profit from this story.

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Author(ess): bluefuzzyelf

Chapter Three

Illuminate

"Damn fucking right!" Kagome reached down and drew her gun, aiming it straight between the old man's eyes. The tall redhead cursed and made a move toward her, but just as the other two restrained him, Kagome pulled the other gun and pointed it at him. He settled down.

"Now, you tell me what the bloody fucking hell you just did, and maybe I won't kill you."

A knife appeared in her peripheral vision. "What kind of demons are they and how do I kill them?"

Inuyasha placed a hand on Buffy's hand. "They're not demons." The blonde slayer didn't relax.

"Please, lower your weapons."

The black haired boy moved and placed his wand on the ground. The others followed suit. "There. Now we aren't armed."

Buffy relaxed, and Kagome lowered her guns, but she didn't put them away or flick the safety catch.

"Miss Higurashi, do you think that we might go someplace more, er, comfortable?"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eyes. He cleared his throat. "There's a huge spider dead on the floor. That isn't going to go unnoticed."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Don't worry about that. We will take care of it."

The next thing Kagome saw was three bolts of red light flying toward them, three voices yelling in unison "Stupefy!"

"I don't know if this was such a good idea, sir," said Harry as he looked apprehensively at the three unconscious people. Dumbledore turned to him.

"It was necessary."

"Yeah," said Ron, "You saw her, Harry. She was ready to kill us!"

Hermione bit her lip. "She was just scared. She'd never seen magic before."

"Don't be too sure, Miss Granger." Hermione looked at Dumbledore.

"What do you mean?"

The old man smiled secretively. "You'll see."

Mrs. Fig came bustling into the room, placing mugs and a tea tray down, sugar and cream in little pitchers. The pot came next, a hand knitted tea cozy perched on it. It was a horrible puce green.

"There, you are Albus. If you need anything, just call, alright?"

"Yes, thank you, Arabella."

Mrs. Figg left. "Actually," Harry commented, "I was referring to bringing them here."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"I think she's waking up. Professor! She's moving!"

Kagome's eyes fluttered. She heard a voice go "Enervate!" She sat up quickly, bringing a hand to her head and groaning right after. "Bloody hellwhere's the aspirin?"

"Right here." A wrinkled hand held out two little pills. She took them gratefully and swallowed them dry. Then she remembered why she needed the aspirin in the first place. In a move worthy of Wormtail, she jumped over the couch and stood ready to defend herself.

Moving her hands for her guns, she found they weren't there. Panic stirred in her gut.

"Please, do not worry, Miss Higurashi, we are not here to harm. Your weapons have been put away, and you are perfectly safe here."

Kagome peered at the people sitting calmly on poufs. "Where's Inuyasha? And Buffy?"

The girl pointed. Kagome looked and found the two propped up against the wall. She raised an eyebrow.

"We had no couches left," said the black haired boy apologetically. Kagome felt the beginnings of a smile forming. The guy was cute, she had to admit, and around her age. She gave him an appreciative once over. He blushed.

Kagome sat down. "Okay. You have my stuff. You've brought me here under some strange spell, along with my friends and-oh shit, my friends! They're gonna be freaking out!" Kagome ran over to the phone on the end table by the couch and dialed.

"Miroku? Yeah, it's me-no, I'm fine, I think-will you-No! I'm fine! Just go-look, I can take care of myself. Yash and Buff are with me-Miroku! Calm down! I'm fine, I'm as safe as I'm gonna get, Inuyasha and Buffy are with me, albeit unconscious, but what I want you to do is to get your people down to King's Cross and take care of the-what? It's gone? What the hell? How-?" Kagome looked up. "Actually, nevermind, I think I know. I'll call you back, ok? Bye." She hung up. "You did it, didn't you?" Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes. It's all taken care of."

Kagome bit her lip. "How long have I been out?"

"An hour, give or take."

Kagome took a deep breath and sat down. "Okay. Explain."

"You don't want to wake up your friends first?"

"Uh, no. Inuyasha will likely rip the house to pieces and fly out with me, and Buffy would-well, do the same. It's safer with them out of it."

Albus Dumbledore nodded.

Inuyasha groaned. His vision was returning slowly. He blinked, his eyes having a hard time focusing.

"Is it always this hard to come out of it?"

He knew that voice. Kagome. "No, it's not. I'm afraid I don't know why he's reacting this way."

He _didn't_ know that voice.

He sat up. Kagome gasped and fell on her ass.

"Yash, don't do that! You scared me!"

Inuyasha groaned incoherently.

"Here. Have an aspirin."

His eyes closed, he raised an eyebrow.

"Your kind of aspirin." He nodded and swallowed the pill. His head cleared, and he opened his eyes and looked straight into concerned brown ones. Wait a minute. Kagome's eyes _were not_ blue.

"The fuck?!" Inuyasha leapt to his feet. His intense eyes took in all the exits in seconds, and he moved to grab Kagome when she laid a calming hand on his shoulder. He looked at her.

"Don't pull that Neanderthal move, mister." She turned to the people in the room. "See? This is why I didn't wake him up in the first place."

"Kagome," he growled, a clear warning in his voice. She gave him a cheeky grin and pushed him down onto the sofa. "Sit, boy."

Inuyasha glared at her. The feeling of calm around Kagome was palpable, and the demon instincts in him relaxed. He took a deep breath, and an ear under his bandanna twitched.

The bushy haired girl made a startled motion, and stared at his head. Inuyasha didn't notice.

"Where are we?"

"Mrs. Figg's house."

"Who?"

Kagome smiled. "Mrs. Figg. A friend of Albus'."

Inuyasha blinked. "Did you just say Albus?" Kagome nodded.

"I am Albus Dumbledore," the old man said, smiling. "The three young people with me are Ron, Harry and Hermione, respectively."

Inuyasha turned an intense gaze on each of the teens, and they shuddered as one. Kagome broke the odd tense moment by plopping down and putting her feet on the hanyou's lap.

Inuyasha crinkled his nose. Hermione raised a hand discreetly to her mouth to stifle her giggle. Ron shot her a suspicious look. Inuyasha took a deep breath.

"So, what's going on?"

Inuyasha sighed. Why was it always him? He'd been alive three hundred years and already he'd faced Kagome, who'd had powers like he'd never seen; a giant spider, the likes of which he had _definitely_ never seen _and_ the knowledge that there was a giant wizarding community spanning the entire world. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

Kagome seemed to know what was running through his head. She poked him lightly in the side. "Hey, come on, it's not that bad." He shot her an irritated glance from the corner of his eye. "I just found out that there is a hidden community of _wizards_ in the middle of London, not to mention pretty much every other big city I've ever lived in, and I've never noticed them."

"Okay," Kagome said "maybe it is." Inuyasha snorted.

"Why tell us this?" he asked Dumbledore. "You could've justwaved your wands and said 'Abracadabra' and made us forget all about you."

"Well," began the old wizard, "we've heard about you. Your little group is not unknown to us, and the Slayer is much like a legend in our world. When we ran into you, I thought I'd take advantage of our position.

"We need your help. Our world, and yours, is in trouble."

"From what?" Kagome asked.

"From a very powerful and dangerous man named Voldemort."

"A very powerful and _insane_ man, you mean," interjected Harry. Dumbledore's face went sad for a moment as he looked at his young charge, but nodded.

"Yes, Tom is not in his right mind."

Inuyasha cocked his head. "Trouble how?"

Harry snorted. "You know, murder, mayhem, that sort of thing, just on a much wider scale. Bent on world domination, old Voldemort."

Inuyasha snorted, unaware that he sounded exactly like the younger boy. "Typical. They never learn. I mean, how many evil guys were bent on world domination? And how many actually achieved it? Egotistic bastards."

Hermione looked a bit scandalized and Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, he's already come back from the dead once, so he thinks he's invincible," said the lanky redhead. Inuyasha shook his head. "Idiot. So, how are we gonna fight this dude, if he's Mr. Magic?"

Ron chuckled.

"Voldemort has one flaw, at least in his battle strategy. He despises anything muggle, and thus never uses it. His army, deprived of their wands, do not know how to fight. But, if you help us, we will. I was hoping," he turned his piercing gaze on Kagome, "that we could persuade you three to come to Hogwarts to teach the students how to fight."

Kagome blinked. "How old are these guys?"

"The class would only be offered to third years and older."

"Thirteen and up?" Dumbledore nodded. "You got a deal with me." The old man smiled brightly and pulled a bag of sweets from his robes. "Sherbet lemon?"

Harry and Ron dropped their heads into their hands. Kagome laughed and nodded, taking a sweet. Inuyasha declined. "So, I'm gonna teach a bunch of kids how to fight? Oh, dear lord."

Kagome bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to revive your other friend," said Dumbledore. Kagome nodded. "Maybe you should tie her down first though," she said helpfully.

When everyone was informed and Buffy had calmed down, they all trouped back to the flat. Miroku answered the door.

"Inuyasha! Kagome! Buffy! Some old man and three teenagers! I'm so glad your safe! And I'm fine too, I haven't been worrying myself to death over you guys, wonder where you were, nope, not at all. Would anyone like some tea? Ice cream? Fiery death?"

Kagome patted Miroku's arm comfortingly. "Sorry, Miroku, but we had some business to do." Miroku glared at her. "We just came back to pack-" It was the wrong this to say to the irate man.

"Pack! Pack for what? Where are you going? What's going on now? Who is the old geezer and the triumvirate? Will somebody **please** explain to me _what the fuck is going on_?!"

"Miroku!" shouted Kagome. He quieted. "Thank you. It's a long story."

"Basically, it goes like this," jumped in Inuyasha. "There's a big ol wizarding community here and they need our help cause some big bad named Voltron is gonna try to take over and kill everyone who isn't with him or is non-magical for his own diabolical reasons. They've asked us for help, and we've said yes, so we're going to this wizard school somewhere in Scotland and see what we can do. We came back to pack."

Miroku promptly sat down on the floor. "Oh. Well, that wasn't too long of a story."

Kagome whacked Inuyasha upside the head. "What?" he complained. She just shook her head.

"I want to come with."

"What?"

"I'm going with you!"

"Miroku, we need you here. You're our contact here, and you can keep us informed about big bads."

"Yeah," Inuyasha interjected, as Dumbledore took a seat, "you gotta stay here. I ain't risking your life too."

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "So why take Kagome too? She's younger than I am, for god's sake!"

"Cause she got the mojo going on," said Buffy at the same time as Inuyasha said "Cause she'd give me a world of trouble if I didn't."

Kagome whacked Inuyasha again.

"Mojo?" Miroku asked, looking at the petite slayer.

"Yeah. The magic."

"She can learn much by being at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore.

Miroku turned to him. "Who the hell are you, anyway? And the three stooges over there?"

Harry snickered.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. These three 'stooges', as you call them, are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley."

"Miroku, I'll explain more while I pack. Come on." Miroku followed Kagome to her room.

"I need to talk to the Scoobies. I'll call, and then I can pack." Inuyasha nodded and left to his flat to get ready.

"My dear, that is not necessary. I have contacts over at the Floo Hub, and they can hook your house up to the network."

"Huh?"

"It's a way to travel," said Harry. Buffy turned to look at him. "You throw some floo powder into a fireplace and yell out the name of the place you're going. It'll take you there. Takes less time than broomstick, but more that apparating."

Buffy shook her head. "Ok, I'll use the floo thingy, but no more weirdo magic-y words, k?"

Harry laughed.

Dumbledore sent his message, and soon the network was set up. Buffy grabbed some floo powder than Dumbledore handed her and threw it into the fireplace that Kagome had so luckily installed.

"So I just yell out 'Home'?"

"Yep. Keep your elbow tucked in."

Buffy stepped into the green fire. "Home!" she cried, and was gone in a whirl of green flame.

She arrived in her living room covered in soot and rubbing an elbow. "Note to self: follow the wizard's advice."

"Buffy! What-how-when-why are you covered in soot?" Dawn rushed over to her sister, blue eyes wide. She heard whooshing behind her and quickly stepped away from the fireplace.

"One second, they're coming."

"Who?"

Harry rolled out of the fireplace, coughing madly. "I hate flooing," he muttered. He got up and brushed himself off, subconsciously moving away from the fireplace towards Buffy.

He looked up. "Hi. The others are coming in a second." He caught sight of Dawn and time stopped. He stared at her. She was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen, with big blue eyes and a willowy frame. Her jeans were slung low over her long legs and she stared at him in curiosity,

Harry heard a whooshing behind him but didn't turn. He heard Ron's voice, and the girl's eyes broke from his. Time resumed it's flow.

"Nice place here."

"Uh, Buffy, who're these people and why are they coming out of the fire?"

Another whoosh revealed Hermione.

"Well, I'm kinda helping them."

Whoosh. Dumbledore.

"Do what?"

"Ah, Miss Summers! How do you do?" Dumbledore swept off his hat and bowed to her.

Dawn blinked, her big eyes round. "Uh, g-good," she stammered.

"Lovely, lovely! And the other Miss Summers? Did you get here without any trouble?" Buffy nodded. "Wonderful!" Dumbledore moved to sit on the couch. "May I?" Another nod. He sat with relish and pulled out a bag of sweets. "Anyone wants a sherbet lemon?"

Dawn was whispering furiously to Buffy in the kitchen. "Who are these people? Why are they here? How are you helping them? They sound British, did you find them in London?"

Buffy cut her sister off. "Dawn! Stop. They're wizards, and this magical school that the old guy runs is in danger."

"From vampires?"

"No."

"Then why are _you_ going?" Dawn didn't mean to sound rude, but dear lord, these people were taking her sister away!

"Because that's what I do, Dawn. I help people, and these guys need it. There's this dude called Voltron-"

"Voldemort!" came the voice of Ron from the other room.

"-who wants to take over the whole wizarding world, and then he's going to kill everyone who isn't a pureblooded wizard. That includes regular non-magical people like us. So, in other words, this guy succeeds, apocalypse."

Dawn laid a sandwich on a platter. "Nothing new, then."

"Well, except for the Scotland and wizards thing, pretty much."

"So, they're all magic-y? Like Willow?"

"Definitely not like Willow. Willow does not carry or use a wand."

Dawn peeked into the living room. The kids her age were grouped together, talking quietly. The old man was sitting comfortably on the couch and looked as if he were dozing.

"_This_ is the team they want to stop Master Evil?"

Buffy chuckled.

"Sandwiches!" Dumbledore started as Buffy glided into the room, followed by her sister, carrying a large plate of food.

"Yes!" said Ron. "I thought I was gonna die of starvation!" The bushy haired girl smacked him. Dawn giggled, and the dark haired boy who had caught her attention before looked at her. Her giggles died away. She quickly looked somewhere else and sat down in an armchair.

"I do believe it is time for introductions, don't you?" Dumbledore smiled gently at Dawn. "I am Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Ron Weasley," said Ron through a sandwich.

"Hermione Granger."

"Harry Potter." Harry blushed a little as he spoke, as if he wasn't comfortable with all the eyes on him. Dawn though it was adorable.

"You know why we're here?"

"Yeah, to sweep my sister off to merry old Scotland and prevent another end of the world. Right?"

Everyone chuckled.

"That is about it, yes, Miss Summers."

"I only have one request."

"Yes?"

Buffy looked suspiciously at her sister.

"I want to come."

"Dawn, no."

"Buffy! I am not a little girl here! I can take care of myself and I want to come!"

"No, Dawn!"

"I believe that the elder Miss Summers is right, my dear. We cannot take you along. We can't risk you getting hurt."

"I risk it every day, I'm the slayer's sister!"

"Dawn!" said Buffy sharply. She settled into her chair with a mutinous glare. Buffy held her gaze a moment longer, then turned back to the others. Harry, ron and Hermione had respectfully turned their attention elsewhere as Buffy and Dawn argued.

"I just need to grab my stuff, and then we can call a meeting. I think it'd be better if they all heard the news in person. Dawn, maybe you can hang with these guys, huh?"

"I'll need to be going back to make a few arrangements myself," offered Dumbledore.

Dawn nodded. "Sure." She was still annoyed at her sister's blatant treatment of her like a baby. Harry smiled shyly at her.

"Is there anymore food? I'm still hungry."

Dawn laughed. "Yeah, just go into the kitchen and get whatever you want."

"Alright!" crowed the redhead. "Come on Hermione!" He grabbed the girl and ran into the kitchen. Harry and Dawn both giggled then subsided into a awkward silence.

"So, uh, I'm Dawn. Buffy's sister."

"Yeah, I kinda got that." Harry smiled and held his hand out to her. "Harry Potter."

"Boy Who Lived!" came Ron's voice from the kitchen.

"I don't know how he does that," said Harry as Dawn took his hand. As soon as her flesh touched his, he stiffened. "You're not real." He winced at his choice of words as Dawn jerked her hand back. "Sorry, that's not how I wanted that to sound. I meant, you're not human."

"Yeah. I know."

"What are you?"

"I'm a key. I open things. It's all very bloody and messy and nasty. I try not to open things."

Harry blinked. "Oh. A key."

"Yeah. Big ball of energy. They say I'm green. So what's with the Boy Who Lived thing?"

Harry bit his lip. "Well, it's not a nice story."

"Hey, I'm a key. Doesn't get much worse than that."

"Good point. Well, Voldemort, the evil guy we're trying to get rid of came after my parents when I was just a baby. One of their best friends betrayed them and he killed them, but when he tried to kill me, it backfired and made him into a spirit for fourteen years. Faced death and all I got was this lousy scar," Harry said, only half joking, pushing back his fringe to show Dawn the scar.

She reached out and traced it with the tip of her finger. He felt it burning still when her hand left his forehead.

"Did it hurt?"

"I don't remember. I imagine so."

"I have scars too. They hurt. Wanna see?"

Harry nodded. "Sure."

Dawn stood up and tugged her jeans down a bit a hiked up her shirt. Harry's breath started to come quicker.

There, on her abdomen, were two slashes, white and slightly raised. Harry reached out to touch them but hesitated and looked at her. She nodded. "Go ahead."

He touched them, and the pain in his scar almost knocked him over.

__

Shallow cutsshallow cuts

Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will ALWAYS love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out. And... and I'm ok. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it.

Be brave. Live.

For me.

Harry whimpered and fell back against the couch, his back arching.

"Harry? Harry!" His eyes snapped open. He grabbed Dawn. "He's happy, he's so happy, he's ecstatic and it's really creepy-he knows, he's just found out, you have to come, you're not safe-"

Ron and Hermione, who were just coming out of the kitchen, saw Harry and rushed over to him. Ron laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry! You alright mate?"

Hermione was clucking over him like a hen and they both inadvertently shoved Dawn out of the way, but Harry's intense green eyes never left hers.

"Yeah, I'm okay guys, but Dawn won't be if we don't talk to Dumbledore soon."

"Vision?" asked Hermione quietly. Harry nodded. "What's happening?"

"I need to talk with Dumbledore." Hermione looked a bit hurt, but she nodded.

"Bloody hell, mate, can't we have just one peaceful term?"

The pain in his scar almost completely gone, Harry grinned up at Ron. "You wouldn't even like it if it was."

"True, but going a year without being in mortal peril would be fine with me."

"Yeah, me too. Makes me almost long for the Dursleys."

Ron laughed. "Alright, mate, let's get you up." Ron supported Harry as he tried to stand. The black haired boy's knees gave out and he fell on Ron. "Sorry."

"That's what mates are for."

Hermione moved around Ron and supported Harry on his other side. Dawn watched nervously.

"Here. Take him up to my room. I have a nice cushy bed he can lie on. Much better than the couch." Dawn led the way and Harry and his friends made their slow way upstairs.

Once in Dawn's room, Harry collapsed on the bed. Dawn sank into a chair by the bed.

"Harry!" cried Hermione. "Are you okay?"

Harry nodded. "Just--tired, is all. Don't worry, no more pain."

"I'm going to go get Dumbledore," Hermione said as she smoothed back Harry's hair. "I won't be long."

"I'll come with," Ron added. "Scream if you need us, k Harry?" Harry laughed and nodded. Ron and Hermione left the room. Hermione had her hand lightly on Ron's arm as they left.

"So, uh," said Dawn when the door was shut. "What was that about not being safe here? Cause this is the safest place I know." She paused. "Come to think of how many times I've been attacked here, that's pretty sad."

Harry grinned a bit weakly at her. "Hogwarts is the safest place I've ever known. Voldemort is kindawell, linked to me."

"Linked?"

"Through my scar. He transferred some of his powers into me" Dawn was giving him a blank look. "Anyway, I can tell if he's feeling something strongly," Harry explained. "And right now, he's really, really happy. He knows about you, about you being the key. I got the impression he'd been looking for you for months, only he wasn't expecting you to be, well, alive."

"Nobody ever does," Dawn sighed. "Well, that's great and all, but Voltaire-"

"Voldemort."

"Whatever. He's just going to have to live without me."

"He's more powerful than you can imagine-"

"With that name? Uh huh. King of the Bitchy Britches. They always forget I'm the only little sister of the slayer," Dawn muttered. "Who, by the way, made it well past eighteen, when most slayers die. She's still very much alive and kicking, as I'm sure you saw."

Harry frowned. "If Dumbledore can't take on Voldemort, I highly doubt your sister can."

Dawn sniffed. "Well, you don't know her. Anyway, if she didn't just kill him with her astoundingly distracting wit in battle, then Willow will finish the job. Got the major mojo going on there. All dark magic-y and stuff."

"Well, I hope so, cause I sure can't."

Dawn cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I've faced him four bloody times, and each time I've failed to defeat him! All I've done is stalled him, or put off the genocide he's planning, and two summers ago I failed to stop him from coming back! People have died because of me and because of my incompetence! They're _dead_, do you understand?"

Dawn swallowed, surprised by his vehemence. "Yes, I do."

"Can you?"

Dawn nodded. Harry put a hand over his eyes. "I just want it all to stop." Dawn laid a hand over his free one.

"We'll stop it."

Harry opened one eye. "We?"

"Well. Of course!" Dawn exclaimed. "You didn't think that after all that I'd be content to just sit here? I'm definitely going to help. And I have to come with you anyway, right? Voltem knows where I am. And isn't this Hogwates a safe place?"

Harry laughed. "Yeah. Yeah, it's safe."

"What are you laughing at?"

Harry didn't answer. Dawn placed her fingers on his ribs. "Tell me or you get the tickle torture."

Harry shook his head and pinched his mouth shut.

"Your funeral." Dawn tickled the bespectacled boy with fervor and he tried desperately not to laugh. In minutes, both had forgotten why she had been tickling him in the first place and were recovering from laughing.

"Oh, my stomach hurts!"

"Serves you right. You're the one who attacked me."

Dawn leaned her elbows on the bed. "What's it like?"

"What?"

"Doing magic."

"You know, compared to you, Luna's positively linear."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. It feels likeit's indescribable, the feeling you get in your chest. You just know that you're supposed to be doing this, that this is what you were meant for. It's incredible."

Dawn smiled. Then she reached over to Harry's waistband. He stiffened.

"Relax, loverboy." Dawn pulled away holding his wand in her hand. Harry relaxed.

"Sorry."

"S'okay." She looked at the wand critically. "So, this is what channels it? Pretty." Harry nodded. "Teach me something."

"What?"

"Teach me something. Come on, it can't hurt, I'm not able to do the magic thing. I just want to say a real spell."

Harry bit his lip. It couldn't hurt, really. He's give her just a simple spell, and hope she didn't freak out. Who knew what happened when Muggles attempted spells?

"O-okay. Say '_Lumos_'."

Dawn held out the wand. "_Lumos_."

The wand lit up.

A/N: I was all ready to post this new chap, nice and hot off the press, and what do I find? Our god be damned internet is out! So, I come home today and voila! It's back. So here you are. A new chapter after months of silence.

I'm SO SORRY!!!!

Read my bio, usually it's got accurate info on it.


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